Flax shives are a source of abundant biomass from renewable sources. They are considered to be environmentally benign and have a high-energy content for heating and generation of electricity, but only after being processed into pellets. Pelleting of the shives was done by using the single-pelleter and pilot-scale mill. The effect of grinding with screens of 2.4, 3.2, and 6.4 mm on unit density and durability was conducted with a completely randomized design using shives from Biofibre Industries Inc., Canora, SK. The central composite face-centered design with 3 levels of lower grade canola meal used as a binder (18, 21, and 24%), moisture content (8, 11, and 14% (w.b)), and hammer mill screen size (3.2, 4.8, and 6.4 mm) was used to determine the effects of these three factors on the properties of fuel pellets made from shives obtained from Biolin Research Inc., Saskatoon, SK. The initial moisture content of coarse flax shives from both sources was about 10.5% wet basis (w.b.). The moisture content of flax shive grinds ranged from 9.6 to 10.5% (w.b.) after grinding, using the smaller screens for the Biofibre material, while the moisture content ranged from 7.9 to 8.6% (w.b.) for shives from Biolin. Also, smaller screen size reduced the geometric mean particle size for shives from both sources. The use of the smaller hammer mill screen resulted in an increase in both bulk and particle density of shives. There was a decrease in coefficient of the internal friction of shives from 0.20 to 0.14 and an increase in a cohesion of shives from 2.18 to 3.83 kPa when the screen size decreased from 6.4 to 3.2 mm. The flax shives contained cellulose (53.27%), hemicelluloses (13.62%), and lignin (20.53%) at a moisture content of 7.9% (w.b). Specific heat capacity of flax shives changed from 1.5 to 2.7 kJ/ (kg °C) when the moisture content was increased from 8 to14% (w.b.) and temperature from 15 to 80°C. The shives had the combustion energy of 17.67 MJ/kg at a moisture content of 8.1% (w.b.).<p> The smallest screen size (2.4 mm) resulted in the highest unit density (1010 kg/m3) and the highest durability (88%) in the pellets produced by the single-pelleting equipment. The change in length of pellets produced by the pilot-scale mill increased as canola meal increased from 18 to 24% at the highest moisture content (%). The pellets were more stable at the highest moisture content when the lowest canola meal used. The addition of 18% canola meal and grinds from a screen size of 6.4 mm produced the highest unit density in the pellets at all moisture levels. The highest bulk density (682 kg/m3) was obtained from shive mixtures with 18% canola meal and a moisture content of 8%. The highest hardness and durability were found for the shive pellets that were produced with 18% canola meal at a moisture content of 14% (w.b). Pellets that were produced at a moisture content of 14% (w.b) resulted in the lowest percentage of moisture absorption. The inclusion of the canola meal in the shive mixture resulted in an increase in the combustion energy of the pellets because of the fat content in the binder. The two levels of canola meal for shive pellets had essentially the same level of emissions. However, there were significant differences between shive pellets and commercial wood pellets in the level of the emissions. Lower amounts of methane (1.29 ppm) and oxygen (164.3 ppt) were found for flax shive pellets than of methane (1.63 ppm) and oxygen (176.6 ppt) in commercial wood pellets.<p> In short, pelleting of flax shives into fuel pellets improved the handling characteristics, increased bulk density and energy content. Fuel pellets made from flax shives had less emission of methane and oxygen from combustion when compared to commercial wood pellets.

This report summarizes the development of a calculation program estimating the profitability of converting a peak-load oil-fired boiler to pellets. To convert an oil-fired boiler to pellets a new fuel handling system must be designed. Changes also have to be made to some other components. Since there are many different techniques for transportation, storage and treatment of the fuel only the most interesting techniques from Swecos experience and interest were included in the study. The capacity of the different parts in the system was dimensioned based on the power of the boiler after conversion. To estimate prices, installed power and dimensions manufacturers and distributers were contacted. The acquired data were then used to produce curves for how the price, effect and dimension varied for different components depending on the size of the plant. For some components non-sufficient data were acquired to establish curves and other estimates had to be done. The program is restricted from the public, so the code and the program are not shown in their entirety. In the report schematic pictures of the input and output page are shown as well as some sensitivity analyses with normalized values. The program can probably give an indication on rough prices, installed effects and dimensions. Since sensitivity analyses are undertaken and economic scenarios are investigated the user also gets a sense of what influences the economic outcome the most. Unfortunately no validation data could be found during the project, so validation will have to be made during future projects.

As demand for renewable energy is increasing rapidly, the market for biomass pellets is expected to continue to grow in the near future. Most of the new raw materials that are discussed for pellet production have one thing in common; the production costs will increase compared to using traditional raw materials such as sawdust and planer shavings. The aim of this thesis is to investigate to what degree increased use of new raw materials for pellet production will affect the general pellet prices in Sweden and to survey what plans Swedish pellet producers have concerning new raw materials. To investigate the raw material situation of the Swedish pellet producers an industry survey was performed. Literature studies were also made on previous research in the subject field. Calculations of the production costs for pellets were done for the raw materials sawdust, wet sawmill chips and energy wood respectively.                 New raw materials are already used by the large-scale pellet producers in Sweden. It is mainly the large-scale producers that have started to use new raw materials such as energy wood, wet sawmill chips and dry chips. Around 65% of the respondents of the survey were planning for new raw materials. Most commonly planned for was energy wood. Most of the pellet producers in the survey were planning for raw materials that give high quality pellets. The minimum price for pellets is in the long run set by the production costs. The raw material costs are the most important part of the production costs and according to results from the survey they also affect the pellet prices most. For pellets made of sawdust the raw material costs were typically 2/3 of the total production costs in 2009. In calculations of production costs, wet sawmill chips resulted in a decreased cost by 4% compared to sawdust, mainly because of less expensive raw material. Energy wood also resulted in decreased production costs by 4% compared to sawdust, assuming that the thermal energy needed for drying could be entirely produced with the bark from the debarking process. Both energy wood and wet sawmill chips could hence decrease the production costs and thereby the price for pellets. Even though there is a much greater maximum pellet production potential for wet sawmill chips than for sawdust the amounts of available raw material will, among other factors, depend on the development in the pulp industry.

In today's society, the availability of energy plays an integral part in our everyday lives. Unfortunately, the price of energy in Sweden has increased in recent decades. A large part of our energy consumption goes to heating modules for houses, where heating methods that depend on energy sources such as electricity, district heating, fuel oil, gas and biofuels are the most common ones. During the winter period, the increase in energy costs becomes significantly evident, especially for small property owners. This increase in energy cost is most noticeable for home owners with electric heating. This thesis is written at the Halmstad University, in cooperation with a company, which makes parts of this thesis confidential. The aim of this report, which is a part of a product development project, was to find a technically satisfactory solution of transporting of the pellets. The new system is designed to be inserted into existing product models with minimal design changes required to the original module. In connection with the development of the prototype, there has also been a cost- and layout evaluation of production processes in order to ascertain the cost of manufacturing of the system. Also, a brief analysis of the current market for the product and pellets has been made to create a picture of the desirability of the product. In combination with this, the customer's perspective has been analyzed by making an investment calculation to see how long it would take for an investment into the new system to pay for itself. / Energi är i dagens samhälle en central del i vår vardag där priserna på energi i Sverige har ökat under de senaste decennierna. En stor del av energikonsumtionen går till uppvärmning av småhus där uppvärmningsmetoder som el, fjärrvärme, eldningsolja, gas och biobränslen är vanligast. Framförallt under vinterperioderna blir detta ett reellt problem för småhusägare då kostnaderna för uppvärmningen ökar. Mest påtagligt blir uppvärmningskostnaderna för småhusägare med eluppvärmning.   Examensarbetet skrivs vid Högskolan i Halmstad och görs i samarbete med ett företag vilket gör att delar av rapporten omfattas av sekretess. Uppdraget, som är en del av en produktutveckling, är att finna en tekniskt tillfredsställande lösning för att transportera pellets. Detta med krav på minimal konstruktionsförändring på den befintliga produkten, vilket ställer krav på utformningen av systemet. Den slutgiltiga produkten är tänkt att kunna erbjuda en ökad användbarheten av produkten. I samband med framtagningen av prototypen har det även gjorts kostnadskalkyler och upplägg av produktionsprocessen för att ge en bild över kostnader för implementering av systemet. Även en kortfattad analys av marknaden för produkten och pellets har gjorts för att skapa en bild av produktens möjliga genomslagskraft. I kombination med detta har även kundens perspektiv analyserats genom att göra investeringsberäkningar för att se hur lång tid det tar för investeringen att återbetala sig.

Flax shives are a source of abundant biomass from renewable sources. They are considered to be environmentally benign and have a high-energy content for heating and generation of electricity, but only after being processed into pellets. Pelleting of the shives was done by using the single-pelleter and pilot-scale mill. The effect of grinding with screens of 2.4, 3.2, and 6.4 mm on unit density and durability was conducted with a completely randomized design using shives from Biofibre Industries Inc., Canora, SK. The central composite face-centered design with 3 levels of lower grade canola meal used as a binder (18, 21, and 24%), moisture content (8, 11, and 14% (w.b)), and hammer mill screen size (3.2, 4.8, and 6.4 mm) was used to determine the effects of these three factors on the properties of fuel pellets made from shives obtained from Biolin Research Inc., Saskatoon, SK. The initial moisture content of coarse flax shives from both sources was about 10.5% wet basis (w.b.). The moisture content of flax shive grinds ranged from 9.6 to 10.5% (w.b.) after grinding, using the smaller screens for the Biofibre material, while the moisture content ranged from 7.9 to 8.6% (w.b.) for shives from Biolin. Also, smaller screen size reduced the geometric mean particle size for shives from both sources. The use of the smaller hammer mill screen resulted in an increase in both bulk and particle density of shives. There was a decrease in coefficient of the internal friction of shives from 0.20 to 0.14 and an increase in a cohesion of shives from 2.18 to 3.83 kPa when the screen size decreased from 6.4 to 3.2 mm. The flax shives contained cellulose (53.27%), hemicelluloses (13.62%), and lignin (20.53%) at a moisture content of 7.9% (w.b). Specific heat capacity of flax shives changed from 1.5 to 2.7 kJ/ (kg °C) when the moisture content was increased from 8 to14% (w.b.) and temperature from 15 to 80°C. The shives had the combustion energy of 17.67 MJ/kg at a moisture content of 8.1% (w.b.).<p> The smallest screen size (2.4 mm) resulted in the highest unit density (1010 kg/m3) and the highest durability (88%) in the pellets produced by the single-pelleting equipment. The change in length of pellets produced by the pilot-scale mill increased as canola meal increased from 18 to 24% at the highest moisture content (%). The pellets were more stable at the highest moisture content when the lowest canola meal used. The addition of 18% canola meal and grinds from a screen size of 6.4 mm produced the highest unit density in the pellets at all moisture levels. The highest bulk density (682 kg/m3) was obtained from shive mixtures with 18% canola meal and a moisture content of 8%. The highest hardness and durability were found for the shive pellets that were produced with 18% canola meal at a moisture content of 14% (w.b). Pellets that were produced at a moisture content of 14% (w.b) resulted in the lowest percentage of moisture absorption. The inclusion of the canola meal in the shive mixture resulted in an increase in the combustion energy of the pellets because of the fat content in the binder. The two levels of canola meal for shive pellets had essentially the same level of emissions. However, there were significant differences between shive pellets and commercial wood pellets in the level of the emissions. Lower amounts of methane (1.29 ppm) and oxygen (164.3 ppt) were found for flax shive pellets than of methane (1.63 ppm) and oxygen (176.6 ppt) in commercial wood pellets.<p> In short, pelleting of flax shives into fuel pellets improved the handling characteristics, increased bulk density and energy content. Fuel pellets made from flax shives had less emission of methane and oxygen from combustion when compared to commercial wood pellets.

We have performed calculations in order to evaluate the vacuum conditions for the twohadron physics experiments WASA and PANDA. WASA is an ongoing experiment whereasPANDA is an experiment under construction. There is an interest in improving the vacuumconditions for these experiments in order to reduce background interactions. The experimentswere modelled as longitudinal conductance limited vacuum systems in the molecular flowregime and the calculations were performed with VAKLOOP. The approach was to fit amodel of WASA to measurement data and then extend this model to PANDA in order tomake predictions. The model of WASA was successful in the sense that it reproduced themeasurement data within the measurement uncertainty. The model of PANDA showed somediscrepancies in comparison with calculations from the Target Technical Design Report ofPANDA, but an overall similar pressure profile is obtained. Finally, we have considered a wayof improving the conditions at PANDA by including extra pumping capacity in the system,concluding that lowering the pressure at the interaction point for PANDA is challenging. Anoutlook for further modelling is to make a more detailed comparison between our model andthe one from the Target Technical Design Report.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Tekn. högsk., 2006. / Härtill 7 uppsatser.

The world has to change its energy and climate policy to guarantee the future of earth. The need of finding new solutions to address energy needs is vital. More than 80 percent of the population in Zambia relies on charcoal as a primary source of energy. The deforestation that follows with this solution is not sustainable.The speed of deforestation in Zambia is one of the highest in the world. The combustion of charcoal develops smoke that causes negative health effects. More people die of injuries related to smoke inhalation than of malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS all together.Emerging Cooking Solutions (ECS) is working to replace the charcoal with the more efficient fuel pellet. Pellets are made out of residue and has a high energy value. By substituting the use of charcoal with the use pellets the rate of deforestation will diminish. The combustion occurs in stoves that reduces the smoke development and don’t harm the public health.This study aims to provide more knowledge of the materials that could be used for pelleting, which could be helpful to ECS and other companies and contribute with information for future decision making. To make a pellet you need to reduce the particle size and then compress the material into the cylindrical rods. By reducing the particle size energy is required in the form of mills or other decomposition processes. The goal is to minimize the energy required to break the materials down, since a high use of energy is associatedwith higher costs.This study examines the quality in pellets when changing the particle size. Four materials with hard shell characteristics were examined with three different particle sizes and two different forces. The pellets were tested for their density, hardness and energy consumption when pelletized. A single pellet press, located at Karlstad University, was used for the experiment. A summary of previous studies was made to study the structure of the material and to evaluate possible characteristics between properties and set of lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose. Moisture and temperature were constant under the elaborations.The results of the study showed that Cashew nut residue, Hazelnut shells, olive kernels and Pongamia shell had possibility to generate a pellet. Variation in quality between material structure and particle-size were observed.Pongamia shells were able to withstand the highest pressure in the tests. The materials showed a relationship between hemicelose, density and hardness, but will require further reports to compile a synthesis. No trend could be observed for energy use in varying the particle sizes of the material.Hazelnut shells acted differently from the other materials when being pressed out of the single pellet press. Were the friction energy varied big for the specific pellet production. The energy curve was uneven compared to the other materials. The other curves acted more even. Observations will need more studies to examine why the material behaved like this.All materials showed lower quality in hardness when the particle size increased. Two out of four materials would not make a pellet for the two larger particle sizes. The study confirms the hypothesis that smaller particle size is required to generate pellets. / Världens klimatpolitik behöver förändras för att kunna skapa en hållbar infrastruktur och garantera jordens framtid. Behovet av att hitta effektiva energilösningar för att bemöta energiefterfrågan är viktigare än någonsin. I Zambia använder sig mer än 80 procent av träkol som primär energikälla. Avskogningen som sker för att tillgodose landet med energi är inte hållbar. Skövlingen har lett till att landets avskogningshastigheter är en av de högsta i världen. Förbränningen av träkol medföljer rökutveckling som skadar hälsan. Konsekvenserna av röken medför fler dödsfall malaria, tuberkulos och HIV/AIDS tillsammans.Emerging Cooking Solutions (ECS) arbetar med att ersätta träkolet i Zambia med den mer effektiva bränslepelleten. Ersättningen kommer minska efterfrågan på träkolen och därmed minska avskogningshastigheten. Förbränningen av pelleten sker i kaminer som minskar hälsofaran som röken utgör.Studien ämnas att dels utöka kunskapen om material som skulle kunna användas för pelletering. Vilketskulle kunna utveckla ESC och andra företag och assistera vid framtida projekt och beslutsfattandet. En pellets tillverkas genom att sönderdela material till små partiklar och sedan komprimera materialet till cylinderformade stavar. Dessa stavar har högt energiinnehåll på liten volym. För att minska partikelstorlek krävs energi, i form av kvarnar eller andra sönderdelningsprocesser. Den energi som krävs för sönderdelning vill man undvika i möjligaste mån då den kan resultera i eventuella extra kostnader bland annat.I denna studie undersökts hur kvaliteten i pellet förändras vid förändring av partikelstorleken. Fyra material, med hårt skal med tre olika partikelstorlekar och två olika presskrafter användes. De tillverkade pelletsen kvalitetstestades utefter densitet, hårdhet och energianvändning vid pelletering. En enpetarpress på Karlstads Universitet användes för att göra pelletsen. En sammanställning av tidigare studier gjordes för att undersöka materieluppbyggnaden och utvärdera eventuella samband mellan egenskaper och uppsättning lignin, cellulosa och hemicellulosa av materialet. Övriga faktorer som hölls konstanta var fukthalt och temperatur bland annat.Resultatet av studien påvisade att Cashewnötrester, Hasselnötsskal, Olivkärnor och Pongamia skal hade förutsättningar för att pelleteras.Pongamia skal klarade av högst tryck vid hårhetstester och innehöll störst andel hemicellulosa av materialen som testades. Samband mellan hemicellulosa, densitet och hårdhet lades märke till men kräver vidare studier för att sammanställa en syntes. Ingen trend kunde iakttas för energianvändningen vid variation av partikelstorlekar av materialet.Hasselnötsskal reagerade annorlunda än de andra materialen vid utpressning från enpetarpressen. Där friktionsenergin varierade kraftigt för den enskilda pelletstillverkningen. Enerigkurvan var ojämn och vågig jämfört med de andra materialen som pressades ut med en betydligt jämnare kurva. Observationen behöver vidare studier för att öka kunskapen om varför materialet reagerade så.Samtliga material påvisade försämrad hårdhetskvalitet vid större partikelstorlekar. Två av fyra material utgjorde en pellet vid alla partikelstorlekar. Olivkärnor och Hasselnötsskalen föll sönder vid de två större partikelstorlekarna. Studien bekräftar hypotesen av att mindre partikelstorlek krävs för att tillverka pellets.

<p>I dagens samhälle styrs mycket av kunden. Då det finns ett överflöd av produkter kan kunder lätt gå över till en konkurrent om de känner att de inte får sina behov tillfredsställda. För företag är det därför viktigt att se kunden som en tillgång och kunna urskilja deras behov.</p><p>När det gäller val av värmekälla har konsumenter blivit mer prismedvetna och söker ofta efter ett prisvärt alternativ. Konkurrensen mellan företag som tillverkar pelletssystem har hårdnat på grund av att pelletsintresset har ökat med åren som en följd av att olja och el har blivit dyrare. Janfire som är tillverkare av pelletssystem är i dagsläget under tillväxt och har insett vikten av att ta reda på hur konsumenter som är intresserade av pellets som värmekälla ser ut och till vilka de bör rikta sin marknadsföring. De vill följa med i utvecklingen och kunna tillgodose konsumenters behov på ett bättre sätt.</p><p>Frågan i uppsatsen vi ville få svar på var: Vilka konsumenter kan Janfire med fördel rikta sin marknadsföring till och hur ser kundprofilen ut för dessa konsumenter? För att komma fram till vilka konsumenter Janfire bör rikta sin marknadsföring till och vad som karaktäriserar dessa konsumenter, genomförde vi 50 telefonintervjuer med personer som beställt broschyrer från Janfire och därmed visat intresse för företagets produkter. De svar som framkom genom dessa intervjuer sammanställde vi innan vi sedan analyserade och drog en slutsats.</p><p>Den slutsats vi kom fram till var att Janfire bör rikta sig till personer som är 46 år eller över. Årsinkomsten för dessa konsumenters hushåll ligger mellan 200 000 till 600 000 kronor. De har antingen en enplansvilla med källare eller en en och enhalvplansvilla med källare med en boendeyta som ligger mellan 100 till 150 kvadratmeter. Värmekällan som används i dagsläget är olja och/eller el. De anser att det viktigaste vid val av värmekälla är uppvärmningsförmågan och de är intresserade av pellets på grund av att det är billigt i drift. De är intresserade av det enkla paketet som innebär en investering på 25 000 kronor, där det krävs cirka 15 minuters skötsel i veckan.</p>

L’étude des caractéristiques physico-chimiques du Compritol® (béhénate de glycérol) et du Précirol® (palmito-stéarate de glycérol) a été effectuée. Les méthodes d’évaluation consistaient en la calorimétrie différentielle à balayage, la microscopie sur platine chauffante et la rhéologie dans un rhéomètre capillaire à pression variable. Cette étude a montré une évolution de la structure cristalline de ces deux corps gras en fonction du temps et de la température de stockage. En effet, ces composés, après fusion et refroidissement, « recristallisent » sous une structure partiellement amorphe, qui évolue avec le temps en structure cristalline. Il est également ressorti de cette évaluation que ces deux excipients lipidiques présentent des plages de fusion bien distinctes. Cette caractéristique est conservée lorsqu’ils sont en mélanges binaires. Enfin, ces corps gras se déforment sous l’action de fortes forces de cisaillement à des températures inférieures à leurs plages de fusion. L’utilisation du Compritol® et du Précirol® comme corps gras lipophiles pour former des microbilles à libération prolongée a alors été envisagée. Nous avons procédé moyennant une technique de fabrication simple et rapide appelée « la pelletisation thermoplastique ». Il s’agit d’un procédé en une étape qui met à profit le pouvoir liant des corps gras facilement fusibles et se passe ainsi de l’usage de l’eau ou de solvants organiques. L’appareillage utilisé est de type mélangeur granulateur à haute vitesse. Nous nous sommes basés sur les renseignements fournis par l’étude de préformulation afin d’optimaliser les conditions de fabrication des microbilles. Le contrôle de la température du mélange est très important pour la réussite du procédé de pelletisation thermoplastique. La vitesse du bras du mélangeur, la température de la double paroi et le temps de sphéronisation constituent les paramètres clés pour réussir la pelletisation du mélange. Nous avons mis au point des formulations contenant 15% (m/m) de Précirol® et une quantité croissante de Compritol® variant de 3 à 65 % (m/m). La libération du chlorhydrate de phényléphrine, employé comme agent traceur, a déjà été ralentie pour les formulations contenant 25 % (m/m) de corps gras. Face à ces résultats encourageants, nous avons mis au point des formulations contenant 75 % (m/m) de différents principes actifs (chlorhydrate de ciprofloxacine, théophylline et kétoprofène) et 25 % (m/m) de corps gras. Ces formulations ont abouti à la fabrication de microbilles à libération prolongée. Une étude de stabilité menée sur certaines des formes finies a montré la stabilité des microbilles lipidiques pour autant que le principe actif incorporé dedans ne soit par lui-même facilement dégradable. Afin d’élargir le champ d’application du procédé de fabrication, nous avons mis au point des microbilles flottantes à libération prolongée. Les formulations proposées contiennent comme excipients : les deux corps gras, un mélange effervescent (bicarbonate sodique/ acide tartrique) et du Methocel K100. Leur flottabilité a été prouvée in vitro sur une période de plus de huit heures et In vivo par administration de microbilles de riboflavine flottantes versus non flottantes à des volontaires humains sains.